Uzumaki Karin
by Tobee
Summary: Jiraiya adopts Karin. It was only on a whim and her resemblance to Kushina and his grief over Minato's death. Spontaneous decisions like that shouldn't have such large consequences, not for other Uzumaki like Naruto or Nagato, or even the Uchiha. But Kushina's demon would haunt him if he left her alone now. Naruto x Karin. Mild SasuKarin. (Plot pt: Karin replaces Sakura in Team 7.)
1. An Uzumaki Outcast

うずまき

* * *

The five-year-old redhead sat at the back of the Academy classroom, propping her chin on her palms and watching the instructor teach.

 _It's soooo booooooring! They're not even teaching us to fight! I'll be weak! This is the weakest village! I hate this place! Damn it!_

Izuki-sensei paused in his writing, and gazed his eyes across the classroom. There were two students sleeping, which he ignored when he powered up his arm with chakra and shot his piece of chalk at her's head.

"Ow!" Her hands flew over her forehead as she narrowed her eyes. "What was that for, Sensei?!"

"You're making a _dumb_ face again, _Karin Uzumaki_ -" Izuki-sensei said, "Then again, _outsiders_ are too _dumb_ to learn anyway."

Every student in the classroom laughed and Karin's face reddened.

"I—I'm not an outsider!" She stood up, clenching her fists. "My name is Karin and I'm a shinobi of Kuso!"

"HAHAAHAH, you, a shinobi? You haven't even graduated yet, if you even will," Izuki teased, and that only encouraged the others to.

"Yeah, you're not from Kusa! You're an Uzumaki from Uzushiogakure!"

"Heh, your clan was so weak that it got wiped out."

"Serves your people right for focusing only on Fuuinjutsu! Why are you even in the Academy, you're no good at fighting, just sealing shit!"

"I'M NOT AN UZUMAKI!" Karin screamed. "MY NAME IS KARIN, THAT'S ALL I AM!"

"Uzumaki~Uzumaki!"

"Shut up!" Karin tackled the chubby boy and started punching him, before someone else grabbed her hair from behind.

"Look at this weird red hair! You _are_ an Uzumaki! Weirdo! Tomato-Creep!"

"YOU'LL REGRET THAT!" Karin yelped as she was ganged up on. She fought back but then again she'd never been trained. "I'M GOING TO BECOME THE BEST AND BEAT UP ALL OF YOU!"

That was before everyone grouped into a mob and started beating her up.

In the end, Karin suffered a humiliating loss against the class (at which the teacher joined in occasionally) with bruises all over her body and a bloody nose.

"Tch! I hate this tiny dingy town and everyone in it! I hate it so much! I wish—I wish it would just burn down! When it does, I won't warn anyone to run!" Karin shouted at the sky, then she noticed people staring at her and shut up.

Adults gathered around the academy entrance, taking her classmates' hands or carrying them home.

Karin felt a churning feeling at her stomach, and bristled with so much jealousy. She was alone while those mean classmates had moms and dads to take care of them! She looked across the horizon where the gloomy sun was about to set, before biting her tongue and walking home by herself.

 _Parents…I wonder what mine would have been like…_

 _…Maybe they were Uzumaki…maybe they have red hair just like I do, and they're off doing amazing missions and saving the world….who am I kidding…do I even have parents?_

It was a gloomy path home as she entered the Red-light district of town. Casinos and brothels lined the streets as Karin snuck into an alley and crawled into one of the cardboard boxes beside the trash bins.

A 60-year-old homeless man (her neighbor) took one look at her and sneered. "Yer lucky ya get to eat free lunch everyday at the Ninja Academy."

"Why don't you join then?" Karin retorted, curling up inside her mini-cardboard-box house.

"I'm not from a famous clan," the man answered, leaning his back against the wall. "They accepted you because you're an Uzumaki, expected to excel and be of use to the village."

Karin had no idea what the old man meant by that, but she did know being an Uzumaki was a bad thing. "Okay. Good night."

"Mn."

The homeless man was a good "neighbor" who'd been looking out for her ever since as far as she could remember, which was probably only a couple of months. He was kind of like a parent of sorts, one that she spoke to a few minutes each day. Such a nice elderly man being homeless was everything that modeled the wrongness of this corrupt tiny village! Even before then, she could vaguely remember red-hair from someone else and a bed to sleep in, until she never saw that redness again and someone else took that home.

And Karin had to sleep somewhere- and this place was the only place police didn't patrol- the only place where it wasn't against the law to sleep on the streets. Although, that casino music and those drunk guys were so loud.

Curling up into a ball, Karin shut her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

うずまき

* * *

The next day, Karin realized she stunk and hadn't showered in a while. The hot springs were supposedly free for shinobi, as they were funded by the village. Karin surmised that Academy students counted as shinobi of the lowest rank, but still ninja, plus hot water would clean her up, and there was no other place to bath.

 _No wait, what if they don't let me inside because I'm an Uzumaki?_

Clicking her tongue, Karin made a few hand seals and her body faded enough to blend with the background. It was the Transparency Jutsu, a genjutsu she painstakingly developed to avoid the angry mobs of drunk adults chasing her home. Apparently, they held some grudge against the Uzumaki clan (claiming the clan killed their kids or were on _Konoha's side during the war that claimed their family's lives) and mistook her as one of them, even though Karin was definitely not Uzumaki! Grrrh!_

She snuck into the hotsprings, took her clothes off and grabbed one of those free towels, slipped into the warm water and relaxed. Her bruises slowly healed themselves.

Rejuvenated, Karin grew curious about why there was a men's side and a women's side of the hot springs, why a tall wooden wall was dividing the warm pool of water. _What could the other side be hiding...?_

After taking off her glasses and rinsing them with water, Karin slipped them back into her eyes and got up, approaching the wall and scaling it. In the end, she climbed to the top of the wall, and sat in a frog-like crouch, observing the nude men.

Then she gaped. They looked aesthetically pleasing.

Karin decided to come back tomorrow with cameras.

* * *

-Unknown amount of time passed-

* * *

"Fufufufu," Karin held in her mischievous chuckles as she peeked over the wooden divider-wall at the men's side of the hot springs.

 _Those abs…those lean flexy muscles…shinobi men are so cool!_ Karin squealed and started drawing her sketches of their bodies on her notebook- because she couldn't afford that camera. She peered through her glasses at them every now and then, and drew.

She ended up sitting herself on top of the wall, keeping her back faced against the men's side so that she wouldn't be seen as peeking. That was ineffective, however, as a few men were already disturbed and getting up to leave.

Bright red hair had its drawbacks.

Ten minutes later, and the men's side of the Hot Springs was completely cleared.

"What the hell!" Karin growled. "Okay, you know what—screw this!"

After throwing her unfinished drawing to the floor and stomping all over the pages, Karin flung up her arms and left the staring women behind. Then, she paused.

 _No wait- I forgot to apply my Transparency Jutsu- UGh I'm such an idiot!_

Facepalming, Karin fled the scene to give it time and hope to be forgotten.

* * *

うずまき

* * *

Two days later, Karin returned, and repeated the process.

This time, the men didn't leave.

"Heheheh, I guess my new transparency jutsu has its merits," Karin mused with an evil grin on her face as she sat on the wall, facing the nude male bodies with her sketchpad.

 _Well, I mean—it was totally worth experimenting with genjutsu—so that now I'm blending with the background. Now I can safely get a closer look!_

She jumped into the men's area of the hot springs, and approached some of the sleepier, more relaxed older men. Karin peeked around and stared at a weird bulge at his crotch area as it was pointed to her face.

Freaking out, Karin screamed.

* * *

うずまき

* * *

For a while there, Karin was traumatized and didn't return for weeks, but then she realized she'd gain a new insight. There were more than surface differences between the male and female bodies, and there were so much inspiration—so much _romance_ that could be derived from those differences.

 _Hmph! I guess I got my sex-ed earlier than the other brats my age._

Karin got back to her feet, and returned to the hot springs.

Once again, Karin perched atop the wall dividing the men's and female's sections of the hot springs, a transparency technique cloaked over her body. She crotched like a frog, and watched through analytical red glasses.

Then, her imagination ran.

Positions, aerobics, reflexes, taijutsu, martial arts, nudity—

Karin slowly smirked like a pervert.

What she didn't know, was that there was an older white-haired man, sitting right beside her, facing the opposite direction she faced, using the exact same transparency jutsu, and peeping.

They were inches apart and they didn't notice the other's presence, their focuses elsewhere on more important matters (like the bodies of the opposite sex) and their transparency techniques infallible.

 _Super Perverts_ , they both were.

Until, Karin felt a bit tired from all the heat and wanted to lie down.

All she did was…lean a little to her left—then she hit something: a body that tensed and convulsed with fear upon contact, a heartbeat exploding in speed, and an explosive jutsu stimulated from self-defense.

The wall exploded into debris and everyone panicked and attempted to evacuate the danger.

* * *

うずまき

* * *

Jiraiya had a hobby along with his job, and they worked together nicely. He had a spy-network that required a lot of traveling, and he had a hobby of "researching" for his Icha-Icha novels that benefited from his travels.

It was a nice arrangement, and today was a research day. He'd heard the women at Kusa were marvelous creatures—all females were.

So, he put on one of the most astounding techniques a spy master could dream to have—the transparency jutsu—and entered the hotsprings.

Then, finding a suitable spot for peeping, he began taking notes and giggling. No one was within range and none of his enemies would notice him before he noticed them, Jiraiya had falsely assumed.

Then, something hit his side, shocking him off-guard. His immune system went overdrive because absolutely _no one and nothing_ has touched him by surprise within a decade! The fact that someone could possibly be _stronger_ than him, the Great Toad Sage, to even get past his defenses undetected—it was just plain impossible!

But it happened, and his mind automatically registered it as a threat, for only enemies would touch him without warning, so he cast off an explosion that would separate his enemy from possibly stabbing him. Then, they could fight at a considerable distance.

Jiraiya didn't kill, he captured for information….Until his eyes saw his target…

* * *

うずまき

* * *

Karin was blown back by the explosion and crash against the stone wall at the other side of the hot springs, her glasses flying off her face into the clouds of smoke rising from the newly scattered debris.

Thump. Crash. Hurt.

"OWW!" Karin shrieked, feeling pain all over her butt and arms and back. _No doubt bruises would form!_ Angrily, she stood up and faced the man who dared attack her— _my peeping wasn't that bad was it?!_

It was a man with long white hair and red clothes, and he was staring at her, flabbergasted, as if he was seeing a ghost.

Something about that just made her feel confident, as if she had control of the situation despite the man probably being five times her age. She was physically hurt and she needed a good ego-boost, even if it meant breaking this shinobi down. He looked pretty strong—even better.

"Hmph, well, you just attacked me out of the blue—you should be scared!"

 _Not to mention, you were at my spot, which could only mean…_

Karin raised her fists, marching towards the man who appeared stunned to move. "NOT ONLY DID YOU ATTACK ME FOR NO REASON—YOU WERE PEEPING ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE OF THE HOT SPRINGS, DAMN YOU!"

Karin's tomato-red hair started flying with angry-chakra like octopus legs as her eyes had fire in them, looking exactly like a demon from hell.

"YOU THINK I'LL LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THAT MESS?!"

 _Punch._

Karin's eyes widened as she stared between her face and Jiraiya's bruised face— _I actually did it—but I thought he'd dodge or block or something! OHmygodwhat have I done!? I hit too hard!_

Karin gulped in guilt, wondering if there was anything to do to make up for this injury. _Uhnn...maybe I should let him bite me…_

Karin glanced around and found her glasses lying on the floor. She picked them up and slipped them on, before turning back to observe the man's injury.

There was a large bruise that threatened to bleed on Jiraiya's face now, and that seemed to have snapped him out of his trance.

Surprisingly, the man grinned. "Feisty, aren't youf? Youf know you're not one to accusef me whenf you're peepingf too," his words seemed muffled by the enlarging bruise blocking his mouth.

"Me-peeping? Uhh, I wasn't!" Karin pushed her glasses as they glinted through the fog. "I was, uh, researching!" She stammered out, totally embarrassed. _So much for acting like a boss!_

"HHAAHAHAH," Jiraiya's laugh was booming. "Researching, eh? Well whaddya know, two great minds think alike. I'm the One and Only Great Gallant Toad Sage, Jiraiya! What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Uhh, Karin." Karin looked thoughtful. "You're just 'passing by' this village, right? So when you leave, take me out with you."

Jiraiya snorted. "Gain a few years on you then ask me again—"

Karin's eyes flashed with demonic hellfire and Jiraiya's survival instincts kicked in again.

"ON SECOND THOUGHT, I'LL TAKE YOU!" Jiraiya blurted out too fast. "But what of your parents?"

Karin narrowed her eyes. "I don't have any—and I've always wanted to get out of this hellhole but never had the resources—but now I do! You don't live here, so let's get out of here!" Karin spoke in rushed tones. If I stay here I'll attempt to murder everyone, I swear!

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. The little brat looked just like a mischievous Kushina when she was younger...it was impossible to reject her. And the shame at letting Minato die...and the guilt that he couldn't take on Naruto... He was the least suited, being constantly on the move between enemy villages for reconnaissance missions. It was the best decision for Naruto to grow up in a hidden village, protected with lots of friends rather than being babysat by a single old man like him.

He could say the same for this girl, but a closer look, and the little redhead looked malnourished. She was skinnier and smaller, boney. And Jiraiya realized the Uzumaki were scattered around the globe after their clan disbanded, and most of them were outcasts to the villages they were in. This girl didn't even have parents, so she must've had it worse.

Karin reminded him so much of Kushina that Jiraiya wondered what would happen if she ever met Naruto.

Plus, she seemed to have the same _refined tastes_ as he did.

It was on a whim when Jiraiya nodded and reached over, ruffling her red hair and smiling with nostalgia. "Ah, very well, you can come with me, so long as you follow all my instructions regardless of what they are!" His eyes hardened, then. "It's going to be really dangerous."

Karin swallowed. Judging by his expression, she didn't have a choice- Now that she'd offered to follow him, she _had_ to go- or Jiraiya would react _badly._ As if, she'd triggered something inside him that dug deep into the past.

Karin snorted, arrogance returning. "I have to start somewhere, don't I?"

Jiraiya contemplated her for a few seconds and smiled. "That's...a...good answer," he glanced around suspiciously. "We should...leave the village...right now," Jiraiya lifted her from under her arms and set her onto his back, before vanishing in a body flicker.

 _If this whole thing hinders my research, I'll just dump her in Konoha's Academy._

That's what he thought.

* * *

うずまき

* * *

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Karin didn't arrive to the Academy again. It was the 7th day she was absent, and Izuki-sensei erased her name from the attendance list.

"She was annoying," the students agreed. "And much worse."

Someone like that...wouldn't be missed.

* * *

うずまき


	2. Jiraiya

_"Ne, Jiraiya?"_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"Why don't we ever visit Konoha?"_

 _"…There is no reason to, and I have a life outside of Konoha. A spy network to oversee, novels to write, adventures to go on…and…the women in Konoha are the same old, same old. Scary but not exotic…Unlike other areas of the world, Konoha has only one woman worth peeping on...Nope, nevermind. Konoha doesn't have any."_

* * *

 _ **-4 months later-**_

* * *

They traveled from village to town, town to city, city to countries. The Water Country, the Lightning Country, the Fire Country, the Earth Country, and then back again. At one point they even snuck past the Sound Village.

Jiraiya was a parent and a mentor to her, and also a partner-in-crime. Karin quite liked Jiraiya.

Tonight they were camping on the outskirts of the Rain Village, several kilometers from the actual rain.

"Grandpa," Karin called, as Jiraiya resembled the old homeless man who shared the streets back in the Kusa village. She had a little bookbag over her back as she held the straps at her shoulders, and walked in sandals and a red, mini-Toad Sage outfit. "We've been traveling for weeks. Where are we going?"

Jiraiya's eyes rose from the map of the Elemental Nations on his hands and gazed towards Karin walking by his side, less than half his height. She looked…to be the age Naruto is supposed to be by now. She looked 8…Naruto must be 8 years old.

Naruto might potentially resemble Minato a little bit, but Karin was Kushina incarnated, no doubt about it.

He sighed with a tinge of sad nostalgia at his failure to save the both of them, and rolled up his map, his other hand landing on Karin's hair and ruffling it into a mess of red.

"Oi!" Karin yelped indignantly.

"Uzumaki-chan," Jiraiya began, letting out another sigh, "We're not going to a certain place." He crouched down, to eye-level with her. Placing his hand around her shoulder, and another finger under her chin, he directed her gaze forwards where the sun could be seen rising over the barren, clear grassy lands. There was not a soul or human construct in sight, but beyond the horizon was a slight glow from the rising sun over the soft green grass and it seemed like paradise was just beyond their reach.

"Can you really pinpoint that beauty?" Jiraiya's hand waved in a slow swiping motion from the left side of her view across to the right side, tracing the horizon. The skies glistened and the wind blow gently at their faces and clothes, giving off a comfortable pine scent.

 _Once you learn to enjoy nature, you might have the potential to become a Sage._ Jiraiya unconsciously thought, but that thought process was at the back of his mind, for he was actually trying to teach Karin what they were doing.

Karin shook her head rapidly. "So we're not going anywhere specific, we're just going to scary-as-hell places, sneaking into top secret facilities, risking our lives, stealing from the strongest shinobi—we're doing all this scary stuff just to have adventures together?!"

"Yup, you said it best-" Jiraiya answered nonchalantly before noticing the angry look on Karin's face. He dropped his hand. "Oh come on, it's fun!"

"And dangerous."

He put his hand on her shoulder and looked her directly in her eyes. "You backing out?"

"No." Karin stated instantly.

"Even though you know you could die any moment by staying by my side…" Jiraiya goaded.

"Yeah, as if our adventures didn't show that to my face," Karin muttered sardonically, remembering the time she was surrounded by at least twenty ninjas trying to kill her because Jiraiya screwed up on one of their "adventures"- and he was no where to be found because he was away dealing with the strongest S-rank leader of the group. Because they kept getting into dangerous situations like that, Jiraiya actually had to train her how to fight. "Wait! You can't be traveling everywhere just for the sake of adventures! That makes no sense! Don't try to make me believe that! Tell me the truth!"

Jiraiya noticed how quickly she changed the subject. He sighed again. "Very well, I might as well tell you the real reason behind what I do, why we're always risking our lives entering dangerous territory and back out, why we have so many friends to talk about codes with…The purpose is for my spy network." Jiraiya trailed off thoughtfully quiet.

"A spy network?" Karin prompted. "What for?"

"Well, it's to protect Konoha of course."

"Why would you wanna protect a place you never visit?" Karin asked. "Do you have family livin' there?"

Jiraiya immediately thought of Tsunade- drunk and wandering the world the same way he was. Probably crossing the very paths he had crossed, probably having walked the trails he was only beginning.

He thought of Orochimaru next- but he didn't want to think about Orochimaru so he repressed the memory.

He thought of his Sandaime Sensei- a weary old man tired of life but hid it well behind a grandfatherly smile.

And then thoughts about Minato, Kushina…They were dead. There was no one to protect in Konoha and even if there was…

He was simply avoiding the village. The spy network was an excuse, but he fully lived up to that excuse. Because he didn't want to admit it was a mere excuse, he excelled in what he did, put all his effort into it…Becoming the greatest infiltration spy master in the world.

He looked back at Karin, because he was so busy reminiscing he forgot what she asked. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

Bad idea.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU AVOIDING KONOHA YOU MORONNNNN?!" Karin screamed into his eyes that Jiraiya could feel his eardrums burst.

"OWCH!" Jiraiya's hands slammed into his ears. "Oh god Karin! Those lungs are louder than Kushina's!"

"Kushina?"

"My dead student's wife who's also dead."

"Oh."

The rambunctious mood turned morbid.

"I'm sorry." Karin murmured.

"For what?"

"For asking about Konoha and making you get those memories back…when what you're doing is trying to forget about it all…"

Jiraiya looked at her then. A clenching feeling inside his chest.

Even if she didn't bug him about it, just looking at her brought back those memories regardless.

Because Jiraiya fought in the 3rd shinobi war, and it was during that time that the Uzushiogakure's Uzumaki clan was attacked and scattered across the globe, most died and some were made exiles.

He was personally responsible for that- his Intel didn't say word about the Uzumaki's peril, and then by the time he found out Uzumaki were about to get slaughtered, he didn't say it to the Hokage because they couldn't afford to send help when they themselves were being attacked on all sides. If he were stronger he could have saved them. He made so many orphans- like Kushina- like Nagato….Nagato….was the reason he took on the Ame orphans. Even though Yahiko was the one who asked, was the assertive one who had Jiraiya train them in the ninja ways….Nagato the quiet redhead was the deciding factor for him to teach them. Later on Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan died, he wasn't sure how they died but with no evidence of them for over decade from his top spy network- he was 99.9999% sure they were dead.

And now…he was taking on a second Uzumaki orphan…a girl who resembled Nagato...Kushina…Minato…

She was feeling guilty about bugging him about Konoha? Hah…She had no idea…

 _You're a constant reminder of my failure…of a lifetime._


End file.
